Salvation
by Purple Nails
Summary: Fang is captured. The flock are on their way to rescue him but will he find a way to escape on his own?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey. This basically takes off after the fifth book, however, in my story, erasers still exist. Fang is captured and this is the story of his escape/rescue. The chapters are probably all going to be in 3rd person, but switch from being with Fang, to Max and the rest of the flock. Rated T for violence and perhaps some strongish language.**

**This chapter's quite short, sorry, but I've written a couple more and chapter three doubles in length. I'll upload some more if you like this chapter and want to see where it goes =D**

**This is my first fanfic so please review! Any feedback would be great, just don't be too harsh!**

**Purple Nails x**

Chapter One

Fang slowly stood up, rolling his shoulders, trying to ease the stiffness out of his body and raked his stony eyes around his new surroundings. Not to his surprise, he found himself in a cell, no more than 12 feet wide, not long enough for him to unfurl his wings. He was the only object in the cell, however, the dirty, blood stained walls and floor told him that he was not its first inhabitant.

He took in every aspect of the cell: a single window allowed the first rays of sunlight of the day to spill through and pool across the hard stone floor but it was too small to fit through and was guarded with four steel bars anyway. His hands skimmed along each of the four walls; searching for week spots and small cracks which could offer a slim chance of escape. Nothing. Fang guessed that each wall was several metres thick. Lastly he made his way over to the single door and looked it up and down. Thick set, new hinges and heavily bolted from the outside: the door too was unbreakable.

Fang sighed and slumped down against the far wall. There was no use wasting his time and energy fruitlessly seeking for a way out. The cell did exactly what it was designed for: keeping people in and not letting them out. Fang would sit, gathering his thoughts, conserving his energy, waiting for the right opportunity. _If there is an opportunity, _Fang thought gloomily.

Fang shook his head. It would not do to slip into despair, not when he knew worse was to come. He needed to be strong. He would escape, whether it would be by himself or whether the rest of the flock would come back for him, he would escape.

He pictured them now, soaring towards him, Max at the lead, with that defiant look in her eyes, her fierce determination, ready to reclaim her right hand man, her best friend… her newly acquired boyfriend. For a second, Fang could taste her on his lips, could feel the softness of her mouth against his own, the feel of her hands running through his hair. Just for a second.

That blissful day at the beach seemed two lifetimes ago, although in reality it had only been two days. So much had happened in that short space of time: a swarm of erasers, a bloody battle and, of course, his own capture. He did not regret his actions; they were going to take Angel, again, but he had charged in, thrown her in the air where she hurriedly flew to Max whilst he was brought down by a wave of snarling erasers.

He had caught one last glimpse of the flock before he was knocked unconscious. They were wearing the usually injuries found from a fight with the erasers: blood covered them all, however, their own wounds were forgotten as they helplessly watched him being taken, hurt in their wide, fearful eyes. He hated that he had cause them that pain but better that he'd been taken that them. He would gladly die for any one of them. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

The sound of sliding bolts awakened Fang from his musings, He stood up, his muscles tensing, readying himself. The door opened silently. They had come.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, this is the next installment. **

**In this chapter we're catching up with the rest of the flock. Total and Akilla are still in the story just not in this chapter because Akilla is a pain to have to fly around basically. And I'm not having to carry her =P**

**Another shorty but the next one is longer, I promise.**

**Please review. Tell me what you think. What you like or what could be changed. Two words would do. Even one. Please...**

Chapter Two 

They hovered silently over the beach watching the lorry drive further away from them. Inside? Hundreds of blood thirsty erasers and one Avian American, being driven to his doom.

It seemed to take hours for the lorry to finally disappear, thanks to their raptor vision and Iggy's hyper sensitive hearing. A single tear rolled down Max's cheek before she angrily brushed it away and turned to the rest of her flock. 'I'm going after him, now' she said, in a deadly, low voice. She knew where they were taking him; she had seen it written on the side of the lorry: 'The Institute for Higher Living'. Perhaps if she hadn't been busy making out with Fang in the first place she would've seen it and then they wouldn't be in this mess. Fang would still be here.

Max swallowed a sob and turned to pursue the lorry and its precious cargo, only to find Iggy blocking her way. 'Come on Iggy!' she almost yelled. 'They've taken him. They've taken Fang!'

'I know', Iggy replied heavily through his broken nose, the red of the blood standing out from his contrasting pale skin. 'But we can't just storm off to find him. You saw how many erasers there were and they've probably got even more waiting. They expect us to go Max. They want us to. We will get him back Max, just not yet, not like this. It wouldn't be a rescue mission, it would be suicide.'

Max digested this, tears threatening to spill, knowing that Iggy was right. Max turned to the younger three flock members. 'Report' she croaked weekly. 'I'm fine', said Nudge, tears streaming down her face, here eyes red. 'A few cuts and bruises. S'nothing'

'I think I've cracked a couple of ribs' whispered Gazzy, his eyes wide and his face white. He had a black eye forming and his lip was split. Max looked over at Angel. She was crying silently, her body shuddering, one hand clasped over her right arm where she had been slashed by an eraser's sharp claws. It took a lot to make the little girl cry but the absence of Fang pressed down on her, like an iron fist squeezing her heart.

Max flew over and pulled Angel into a strong embrace. Soon she was joined by the others in a massive air hug. It was awkward but it was nice, sharing their grief and their love with each other.

After a long time they finally pulled apart. 'Where shall we go?' asked Nudge. A tiny smile flickered across Max's face. 'To my mum's and Ella's house' she replied, angling her wings and tilting her body, flying off into the distance. One by one, the rest of the flock wheeled off and followed her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Next chapter!!! Longer just like I promised.**

**We're back with Fang and things are about to get pretty nasty for him. **

**Please review! It doesn't take long! Or I might just get writer's block and leave Fang at the mercy of the whitecoats =O**

**Thanks, **

**Purple Nails x**

Chapter 3

'Hello, Fang'. Anne's cool voice rang out, bouncing off the stone walls. Fang glared back at her, unblinking, putting all of his loathing and disgust into his stare. Max had once said that if looks could kill then Fang could easily take out a whole hoard of erasers. Anne momentarily flinched under his gaze but soon recovered; she knew that Fang wouldn't try anything, not when she was flanked by four erasers, two of which were carrying guns.

She decided to try again. 'How are you, Fang?' Fang almost laughed at the stupidity of the question. 'Oh, I'm great,' he snarled. 'I mean, the accommodation's been upgraded. This is a huge improvement on dog crates.'

Anne swallowed. A conscious was a dangerous thing in her line of work, however, after living with the flock for a few months she occasionally felt guilty about her actions. Rapidly she shrugged this feeling off. They were mistakes and they were to be treated like it.

'This is how it goes, Fang,' Anne continued, her voice suddenly turning deadly. 'Although I lived with you for a while, there's a lot of information that you all kept from me.'

_Too right, _thought Fang, _and it's a good job we did considering you turned out to be one of them._

'You tell us everything we want to know about the flock and let us run our tests and your time here will be short, relatively painless and, once we've finished, you'll be free to go.'

'And if I refuse?' Fang sneered.

'We'll still get our information but it will be rather more painful for you and eventually you shall be eliminated.'

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Fang would never give out information about the flock and they really were stupid to think that he'd willingly offer himself up for testing.

'So,' said Anne, finally breaking the silence. 'What's it to be, Fang?'

'You can do what you like to me' said Fang, in a low and eerily calm voice, 'but I'll never betray the flock.' Anne sighed and shook her head. 'I admire your courage Fang, but they'll break you in the end. They always do.' Fang shrugged nonchalantly and pulled his best 'whatever' face. Anne studied him slowly one last time before motioning the erasers forward.

Anne led the way down the twisting, white washed corridors followed by Fang, whose arms were being held tightly by two erasers. Bringing up the rear were the two remaining erasers, their guns pointing at Fang's back so that if he made any sudden movements, he would instantly be shot down.

Fang desperately tried to remember their route through the maze of corridors, however, he knew that he was deep in the heart of institute and would become lost almost immediately on his own. Nonetheless, it was still information worth remembering.

Finally, Anne stopped outside a plain white door. The fluorescent lighting from above illuminated a plaque mounted on the door reading 'T01'. She pulled out a set of keys from an inside pocket of her long white coat, another piece of information Fang tucked away, and unlocked the door.

As Fang walked in he was greeted by the overwhelming smell of detergent. The ghastly smell etched into Fang's memory from his childhood made Fang's stomach churn and he nearly threw up then and there.

Fang swallowed hard and his eyes swept the room hastily. The room was relatively small and windowless, apart from one huge plane of glass that looked into another room. The four walls seemed to press down on Fang, belittling him. Facing the glass, there was a wooden chair in the centre of the room and several ropes hanging down from the ceiling, both of which were stained with blood. With a great sense of foreboding, Fang scanned the rest of the room and, to his horror, saw a table next to the door on which lay several whips, iron bars and an arrangement of knives. Several more erasers were also present, prowling the edges of the room. Two were starting a fire in a huge crevice in the wall next to the table of horrors.

'I'll be talking to you from the viewing gallery,' said Anne, motioning to the large glass plane. Fang looked closer into the other room which was adorned with numerous comfy looking chairs and a few greedy looking white coats. 'It tends to get to hot in here for me,' Anne explained before exiting the room.

Fang felt sick; the whitecoats would sit in their comfy chairs, in their, no doubt, air conditioned room, whilst Fang was tortured. A fresh wave of anger took over Fang. He would not give into them. He would not say anything to compromise the flock.

Anne soon reappeared in the gallery. 'Prepare him' she ordered, her voice amplified around the room. Rough hands dragged Fang towards the ropes and pulled his shirt off over his head. There was nothing he could do to prevent his fate; he still had guns pointed at his chest. Next, his wrists were tied above his head strongly to the ropes.

The fire was burning strongly now and a bead of sweat rolled down Fang's face and landed on his bare torso. 'We know that the flock has other skills other than the ability to fly,' Anne began. 'Max, for example, has been catalogued flying at speeds well over 200mph. Tell us what other skills you all have Fang.' Fang remained silent, fixing Anne once again with his cold stare. 'Very well,' she sighed. 'Proceed'.

At her word the largest eraser made his way over to the table and gingerly selected a whip. The white coats in the gallery leaned forward eagerly. 'This is one of my favourite's pretty boy,' the eraser snarled. Fang grimaced at his awful breath. The eraser lifted the whip and dragged it down Fang's face before moving behind him. The whip had felt like sandpaper was being drawn down Fang's face, sharp protruding edges grazing his cheek.

The hulking eraser stepped back, lifted his arm and brought the whip crashing down on Fang's exposed back. Fang winced but remained silent as the whip came down once again, making his skin red and raw. Once more the whip fell and this time Fang let out a grunt as his skin split open and a hot liquid trickled down his back.

Anne's voice rang out through the steaming room once more. 'All you have to do is tell us, Fang, and then all of this can stop. Why prolong your agony?' Still Fang remained silent. He guessed that it was at times like these when his whole strong and silent persona worked to his advantage. He gritted his teeth and allowed himself a little smile whilst picturing Max's face before him as his whipping continued. So long as he could see her face, he would not utter a single word.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, sorry I haven't updated in ages, I was on holdiay and then came back and then went again and then just didn't get round to uploading this.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter back with the rest of the flock. ****Hopefully, the next chapters will start moving somewhere, plans and decisions being made.**

**I'm asking again, I'm almost begging, pleeeeeeease review. I've got quite a lot of hits but hardly any reviews....**

**A ginormously huge thanks to StephanieZorander for reviewing TWICE. If you have the time, check out her story, it's really good =)**

**Hope you like, feedback welcome,**

**Purple Nails x**

Chapter 4

Total was busy relieving himself in Dr Martinez's magnolias when a dark shadow passed over him. Intrigued, the little dog cocked his head upwards and gave a yip of excitement, his wings fluttering. Above him, Max was circling, flying lower and lower before finally landing on the edge of the woods surrounding the house.

As the rest of the flock landed, Total started running towards them. 'Max!' he yelled. 'Guys, I've got some great news! You're never gonna guess…', the black Scottie suddenly skidded to a halt seeing their bloody faces and clothing, 'what's happened?' He scanned their forlorn faces and then his own grew dark. 'Where's Fang?' he asked, the excitement he had initially felt at their arrival disappearing by the second. 'Angel?' he questioned, but the little girl just shook her head, unable to tell him in thoughts or words. 'Nudge?' but for once the motor mouth was silent, her eyes leaking tears. 'Max?' Total pleaded desperately.

Max ignored Total and walked towards the house. She would talk later, form a plan, but what she needed right now was a hot shower in which she could sob her heart out unheard.

***

After a good half hour sitting in the shower with the steaming water pounding down on top of her, Max finally roused herself. None of this moping about was going to help Fang and she needed to put a brave face on for the rest of the flock. However, try as she might, unwelcome thoughts kept popping into her head.

Mac remembered how it had taken Angel weeks to recover when they had rescued her and the experience had changed her somehow. Who knew what was happening to Fang but what if he too was changed by the terrible things he was subjected to? What if he became even more silent and reclusive? Would she, Max, still be able to connect with him and find a way through his invisible barriers? What if he didn't want to stay with the flock anymore, by his own choice or through the influence of the whitecoats? What would the permanent absence of Fang have on the flock? What if they arrived and Fang was – what if he was already dead?

Max scolded herself and pulled herself together. She could spend all day 'what if-ing' but it would be pointless. Anyway, she told herself, Fang was strong, both mentally and physically. She could see him now giving sarky replies to the whitecoats or just giving them the silent treatment, watching them wither under his gaze. God, those eyes: so sensitive with Max, sparkling when he was messing around with the flock, boring into anyone who stood in his way. He would be fine.

Feeling a lot more positive, Max hung up her towels and went into the living room where Dr Martinez was busy dabbing at Gazzy's lip. Iggy had a cloth firmly pressed to his nose, Nudge was covered in band aids and Angel's arm was bandaged, Total draped across her feet, resting his head on Akila's lap.

Max laughed at the sombre expressions etched across their faces in spite of herself and 7 heads swirled towards her in response to the alien noise. 'I'm – I'm sorry,' Max chuckled. 'It's just, we lose the silent one and yet, it's even quieter without him!'

At first Max was worried that she had said the wrong thing; they remained silent and Max feared that her humour had once again surfaced at the wrong time, that the hurt was still too fresh.

Max opened her mouth to apologise when a giggle came from Nudges' direction. 'Maybe… maybe we should start talking in grunts or one word sentences,' she laughed. Soon, Angel and Gazzy started to chortle, their smiles lighting up their innocent faces and driving the darkness away. 'Or maybe,' grinned Iggy, 'we should all die our clothes and hair black'. Max glanced at each of the flock, a feeling building in her stomach. Soon they were all laughing, tears streaming down their faces, Dr Martinez looking bemused at the sudden change of atmosphere, Gazzy wincing through the laughter, holding his ribs, Total lying on his back, his little legs flipping in the air and Akila looking disdainfully at them for the sudden uproar.

Once they were gasping for air, utterly spent on laughter, they all collapsed onto the sofa. Max snorted a few last times and then suddenly turned to Total. 'Hey Total? What were you going to tell us?'

'Oh,' said Total in return, breathing heavily. 'Akila and I have set a date. We're getting married, guys!'


End file.
